Ongoing: Freemasonry and Sexual Behavior Rule Updates

I'm sure everybody is now officially sick of this.

Grand Masters across the US and internationally continue to weigh in on the actions of the Grand Lodges of Tennessee and Georgia regarding homosexual behavior and cohabitation. Instead of making constant, individual posts about this as they are issued, I am going to try to restrict them all to this one single message from now on, and will try to update it as more occur (if they do). Further, I am listing links below to previous posts about the subject, so the whole story can be followed from this one place. 

If a major action DOES occur, such as one Grand Lodge actually suspending Masonic relations with another, that will, of course, warrant its own post, because it's important enough to affect Freemasons in an entire state or two. But the bulk will be put here.

Hopefully, this will finally put a stop to what may look to some like a constant flood, which is not what I intended. It just sort of kept growing. As I have said, I am no gay rights advocate or protester, but I do have my own strong views about it as regards the fraternity. 

(And to answer a question posed in several emails lately, no, I am not gay. I have happily been with the same lovely woman since I was 17 - coming up on 40 blissful years. Thanks for asking.) 

I am simply trying to keep up with this story as it unfolds.

The Story So Far...

Wikipedia Entry: Supreme Court Rules on Obergefell v. Hodges (Same Sex Marriage Case)

Supreme Court Ruling: Obergefell v. Hodges (Complete Text)

• 10/21/10: Grand Lodge of Kentucky Votes Against Gay Ban

• 4/15/11: Openly Gay Mason Suspended in Kentucky

• 3/20/12: Controversial Kentucky Man Arrested For Lodge Theft

• 9/15/15: Gay Marriage and the Grand Lodge of Tennessee (and Georgia)

• 10/28/15: Anti-Gay, Fornication Edict Upheld In Georgia

• 11/12/15: GL of DC Issues Statement Concerning Eligibility For Masons

• 2/9/16: Gay PM and Partner Suspended In Tennessee

• 2/24/16: NPR Radio: Tennessee Masons Oust Married Gay Couple

• 2/29/16: GLs of California, Utah, and District of Columbia Statements on Gays In Freemasonry

• 3/5/16: UCLA Masonic Conference Protested  On Gay Issue

• 3/8/16: GL of DC Suspends  Relations With GA and TN

• 3/8/16: GL of CA Breaks With GA and TN

• 3/9/16: Regular Grand Lodge of Belgium Splits With Georgia

• 3/10/16: A Reflection On What Is Tearing Us Asunder

• 3/12/16: GL of Mississippi Votes Down Proposal Adding Gay, Transexual Wording To Petitions

• 3/13/16: Grande Loge Nationale Francaise To Consider Action in GA, TN Situation

• 3/14/16: GM of GA Responds To Actions of GLs of CA, DC, and Belgium

• 3/14/16: GM of TN Responds To Actions of CA and DC; Grand Secretary of DC Clarifies Effects of Edicts on Members

• 3/14/16: GM of Maine Weighs In

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UPDATE

3/17/16: GM of Wisconsin Statement

Yesterday, the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin F&AM, MW Franklin J. Struble,  issued a statement that was sent to all lodges regarding the position of his GL on lawful homosexual marriages, and his opinion concerning the suspension of recognition by other GLs. 

Click image below to enlarge: 

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UPDATE

3/18/16: Protesters Outside of AASR House of the Temple

A small clot of protesters appeared yesterday in Washington D.C. on the steps of the Scottish Rite SJ House of the Temple. In a town like DC where mass demonstrations are commonplace, this hardly amounted to more than a minor couple of pests. But it was undoubtedly an annoyance to those having to use the main entrance. A local Brother says friends in a nearby apartment building have observed that they seem to "wax and wane and to attract tourists." 

Another Brother reports that when one of them was asked why they were protesting, he replied, "I'm not sure. We were just paid $15 an hour to be here." 

(Hmmm.  Ever hear of Crowds On Demand? Because that's exactly what this sounds like is going on.) 

Nevertheless, it was trumpeted as a triumph by the  organizers.

From the MasonicBigotry website today:

Demonstrators were on scene at the Scottish Rite Supreme Council in Washington, D.C to demand that "Sovereign Grand Commander" Ronald Seale immediately cease awarding degrees to members of the discriminatory lodges in Georgia, Tennessee and elsewhere who openly ban gay and African-American members. By awarding degrees to these members, they are essentially discriminating against the black and the gay communities because they are UNABLE TO JOIN the masons in the first place and obtain the first three degrees needed to receive Scottish Rite degrees. Though this may sound like a complicated issue, at the core of it is the fact that since African-Americans and gays are unable to join these lodges, that any dealings with them to legitimize them are supporting the discrimination. If Mr. Seale does not wish to do this, he could decide to award the first three degrees to African-Americans and gays in the discriminatory jurisdictions. If he does not take either step, he is part of the bigotry. The protests will continue until this matter is resolved--this issues [sic] is far too important for the typical Masonic inaction and pontificating. 

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UPDATE

3/21/16: Nashville TV Story on Upcoming GL of TN Vote

WKRN, the ABC affiliate in Nashville has picked up the story about the GL of TN's upcoming vote on Thursday to remove the  sexual behavior wording from their code

Read or watch it HERE.

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UPDATE

3/22/16: New Grand Lodge of Georgia Code Published with Homesexual Ruling 

Many Masons, both inside and outside of the Grand Lodge of Georgia, have asked what the exact wording was of the Grand Master's Edict #2015-4  that was upheld and became Masonic law in the subsequent annual communication of the GL of GA in 2015. 

Here is the new rule, officially printed as 77.108.1 in the newly published Georgia code book for 2016:

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UPDATE

3/22/16: National Public Radio's 'All Things Considered' Picks Up  TN Story

The sexual behavior rules in the Grand Lodge of Tennessee's upcoming annual meeting on Thursday moved to the national stage today with the airing of the story on National Public Radio's evening news program, All Things Considered.

To read or listen,  CLICK HERE.

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UPDATE

3/23/16:  More Nashville TV Coverage of TN Grand Lodge Vote Airs

Nashville's Fox TV affiliate, WZTV-17, has also picked up the story about the vote on Thursday by the Grand Lodge on Tennessee as to whether or not to strike the sexual behavior language from their code.

From the story:

The Tennessee Grand Lodge of Masons is considering ending its ban on gay members.

 The Masons could vote on the change Thursday.

Matthew Johnson is among the mason who hope the change is made.
"Freemasonry as a whole in the vast majority of cases does not discriminate against homosexuals but we do in Tennessee and in my opinion that's not in line with Freemasonry," said Johnson.

 The issue of gay members came to the forefront last year when the Masons suspended Mark Henderson and Dennis Clark.

Henderson says his lodge knew they were a same sex couple but no one questioned it.

 That changed when the couple got married.

"We're upset about it because there's a lot we put into it to begin with as far as our time our talents and even our funds," said Henderson.
Henderson says he's not sure if he'll come back to the Masons if the organization repeals its ban.

 Chase Geiser is among those pushing for the change.

Geiser demitted from Tennessee's Lodge in protest of the rule.

 "I think it has the potential to change lives for the better and therefore society for the better but I can't. It's unconscionable for me to be a member of an organization that discriminates on the basis of sexuality," said Geiser.

Fox 17 reached out to the Masons Grand Master for comment but that call was not returned.

To read or watch the story, CLICK HERE.

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UPDATE

3/31/16: MWBro. David Perry, Grand Master of California, issued a letter via email today, clarifying his reasons for suspending Masonic relations with GLs of Tennessee and Georgia. It reads, in part:

I suspended recognition of these grand lodges for two reasons. First, their actions are a violation of the General Regulations of Freemasonry. Second, their actions threaten the reputation and good standing of our grand lodge. In late February, I met in person and separately with the grand masters of Masons in Georgia and Tennessee. In these meetings, I learned firsthand what was occurring in their jurisdictions. I also used these meetings to explain how the actions of these grand lodges were affecting the Grand Lodge of California. I based my actions on what I learned in these meetings. 

The actions of these grand lodges violate the General Regulations of Freemasonry because they impose a particular religious (if not also political) view on the fraternity. This particular view is not one on which all men in this country agree. No regular grand lodge may do this. Anderson’s Constitutions of 1723 and the requirements for recognition make this clear. All grand lodges are sovereign, but under our California Masonic Code, each must adhere to the General Regulations for us to recognize them. Further, the actions of one sovereign grand lodge can affect other grand lodges, as has happened in these instances. 

Within weeks of the actions by these grand lodges, the Grand Lodge of California was the focus of protests and our community partners began to question their association with Freemasonry. Protests took place in front of our Grand Lodge building during the World Conference, at public facilities where we were conducting ceremonies, and at schools and universities where we have established important programs. Our grand lodge was disinvited to public activities as a result. 

Believing that something is wrong, but being reluctant to do anything about it, subjects Freemasonry to a certain understandable scrutiny by Masons and the public. In suspending recognition of these grand lodges, we make it clear that the actions of these grand lodges are wrong and that the Grand Lodge of California does not condone these actions. 

The whole letter is available online HERE, and includes links to supporting documents.

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UPDATE

4/1/16: The Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Michigan F&AM, MW Richard D. Wisely, issued the following statement concerning Tennessee and Georgia yesterday to be read at all stated meetings in his jurisdiction:

(Click to enlarge)

Speaking At Unity #148 in New Britain, CT 4/5

I will have the honor of speaking at Unity Lodge No. 148 in New Britain, Connecticut this coming Tuesday night, April 5th. 

Dinner will be at 6:30PM, and lodge will open at 7:30PM. This is their Stated Meeting, and it is also "step-up" night for their officers.

The lodge is located at 10 Mason Drive, New Britain, CT  06052

If you have questions, please contact the lodge directly at unitylodgefreemasons@gmail.com

Looking forward to being there!

PHA-NJ Sovereign Grand Commander Solomon Wallace Passes Away

Illustrious Dr. Solomon Wallace, 33°, Sovereign Grand Commander of the United Supreme Council of the Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite - PHA, Northern Jurisdiction, passed to the Celestial Lodge last Wednesday, March 30th.  He was 87 years old.

He was a native of Raleigh, North Carolina and has been listed among Ebony Magazine's Top 150 African American Organization Leaders.

All services will all take place at New Jerusalem Baptist Church, 122-05 Smith Street, Jamaica, NY.

Thursday, April 7 
Wake and Viewing, 5pm-7pm; Followed by Masonic Services
Assembly Time: 630pm, Service Begins: 7:00pm

Friday, April 8
Going Home Service, 10am

RIP

Masonic Society Announces New 2016 Programs

The following message has been sent by Kenneth Davis, President of The Masonic Society:

I’m happy to announce three important TMS programs for this year: the TMS Annual Conference, the TMS School, and the TMS Scholar.

The ANNUAL CONFERENCE of The Masonic Society will take place this year October 7-9, at Morgan Hill Masonic Lodge, Morgan Hill, California (just twenty minutes from San Jose International Airport). The theme of the conference will be “FREEMASONRY ON THE FRONTIER,” the role of Masonry in the westward expansion of the US and Canada.

The conference will begin Friday evening with an informal dinner and end with lunch on Sunday. The event is being coordinated by TMS Director Gregg Hall.

Details on the conference, along with a call for presentations, will appear in the Spring 2016 issue of The Journal of the Masonic Society. To receive advance information when it’s available, please email conference2016@themasonicsociety.com and ask to be put on the conference email list.

THE MASONIC SOCIETY SCHOOL will be a program of noncredit online Masonic “courses,” study groups, and reading groups, as well as possible tours and other experiences, exclusively for TMS members. We expect to launch the first offerings at the October conference. The school is being coordinated by TMS Director Greg Knott.

Details on the school will appear in the Spring 2016 issue of The Journal of the Masonic Society. To receive advance information when it’s ready, email school@themasonicsociety.com and ask to be put on the school email list.

THE MASONIC SOCIETY SCHOLAR will be an annual award to a Masonic researcher/educator. During the year of the award, the recipient will make himself available to speak at a number of lodges of research and other Masonic bodies throughout the world (with travel expenses paid by the local organization).

The first TMS Scholar will be announced at the Annual Conference this October. The program is being coordinated by the immediate past president of TMS, James Dillman.

Details on the program, along with a call for nominations, will appear in the Spring 2016 issue of The Journal of the Masonic Society. For advance information, email scholar@themasonicsociety.com and ask to be put on the scholar email list.

(Secretary-Treasurer Nathan has rightly asked me to make you aware that by sending email to these addresses, you are opting-in to receive occasional emails about the three programs.)

Kenneth W. Davis
Chaplain, Albuquerque Lodge 60 and the Lodge of
Research of New Mexico
President, The Masonic Society

UPDATE: Brothers In Belgium

Last week, I posted a message from Brother Michel Huyghebaert in Belgium about Masons in Brussels, and whether any had been affected by the recent terrorist attacks in that city.

I received this updated message from him today.

Dear Bro. Chris,
You've kindly posted an article on Freemasonry for Dummies titled "Brothers in Belgium". Here is a follow-up on that. 

A lady working in the medical sector, who had been caring for a Brother of Lodge Chevalier Ramsay, and best friend with another Brother's wife, is now a widow, her husband having lost his life at the subway bomb explosion.

As so many Brethren over the world have offered to help, we're happy to report that we've set up today a crowdfunding campaign for victims of the terror attacks in Brussels.

Anyone wishing to contribute may visit: https://www.gofundme.com/tfwzcxw4

Yours fraternally,V.W.Bro. Michel Huyghebaert

Lawsuit: GL of Florida Discovered To Be Incorporated As "Whites Only"

As if U.S. Freemasonry doesn't have enough problems these days, this story appeared Friday evening from  the First Coast news website, via TV station WTLV, the NBC affiliate in Jacksonville, Florida:

It was a dark hidden secret in an already secretive fraternity, until now.

 "I felt like that is not right," says Walter Hammond.

Hammond, a Mason since 1961, is fighting to restore his membership and to change an 1893 law that allows racial discrimination.

 "It did surprise me," says Hammond. "To me, it runs against the principles of freemasonry where we all are in the brotherhood of man under the fatherhood of God."

Attorney Kevin Sanders represents Hammond. 

"You're looking at about 13 million people that are disenfranchised by Florida Statute," says Sanders, "under this law that they cannot be a part."  

 Sanders discovered the 123-year-old Jim Crow law while preparing his case to restore Hammond's membership.

"This statute has not been repealed, this statute has not been overturned," he says. "As far as I know, this is the first time this statute has been challenged for its unconstitutionality."

 He's asking the courts to make it null and void not just for Hammond, but for everyone.

"I'm asking the courts to make it a class action,' said Sanders. 

He's confident they can win, but first they have to clear a hurdle of motions to stop the suit from moving forward. 

"Kevin thinks we're going to win the case, I hope we do," says Hammond. 

The law, Chapter 4281 of the Florida Statues, incorporates the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Florida. And the language reads, "consisting of Masons exclusively of the white race." 

Grand Secretary Richard Lynn says they are aware of the Jim Crow Law and, in 1993, one hundred years later, the Lodge approved a Declaration of Principles to, as he said, negate the 1893 law. 

It reads, in part: 

"The Digest of Masonic Law of Florida does not authorize a member of  a particular lodge to object to the petition for membership to receive the Three Degrees of masonry, or to visitation by an otherwise qualified visiting Mason, if the objection is based upon the grounds of race, creed, color...
...Such objections are illegal under the State and Federal law and Masons are bound to abide by such laws."  

Lynn says they would agree to have the language removed from the 1893 law, but they're against dissolving the corporation to accomplish the change.
He says such a move would impact the organization financially. 

The case has been filed in Federal Court and goes to trial in November.

Below is the original editorial Walter Hammond wrote in a local Tall Cedars newsletter back in 2008 that caused the uproar in the first place (click image to enlarge):

Apparently, the Grand Master of Florida at the time took offense to the editorial and called Hammond to question him about it. After  asking Hammond if the unnamed "incompetent" and "corrupt" "leaders" mentioned in the article referred to him and the Grand Lodge, Hammond glibly replied, "If the shoe fits, wear it."

Ooops.

The complete details and exhibits of Walter Hammond's very extensive Masonic record, his original transgression and subsequent printed retraction, his complete Masonic trial proceedings, and attempts by his lodge to have his indefinite suspension lifted over a three year period, are all contained in the legal filing that is now public record in a civil court, and may be found HERE.

Hammond was a very active and respected Florida Mason for over 50 years, ultimately serving as a District Deputy Grand Master, and he believes his indefinite suspension that is now approaching 8 years was unfair, especially in light of his original infraction. (I'll leave it to the reader to go through the whole legal file and draw your own conclusion.) His home lodge claimed the right to try Hammond themselves, but were denied. A Grand Lodge Trial Commission was appointed instead by the Grand Master.

Many Masons over the years in a wide variety of jurisdictions have complained about the methodology of trial commissions and the capriciousness with which they have sometimes been conducted. Because every grand lodge is sovereign and has their own rules for conducting these trials, they can vary wildly. Some jurisdictions, like Florida, hold that the grand master alone has the right to interpret the meaning of his grand lodge's rules, and these interpretations can change from one year to the next, as the grand master's successor takes over. 

 The "Jim Crow" law referred to in the article apparently came to light as Hammond's attorney was researching the Grand Lodge of Florida for his civil trial.  Lawyers being lawyers, apparently he wants to now pursue a class action suit against the Grand lodge of Florida (although, just who the damaged class actually would be is unclear, and references to it are not contained in the trial filings online).

Civil cases brought by Masons to attempt to overturn the results of Masonic trials rarely succeed in modern memory. Courts usually rely on first following the rules set down by private clubs to redress grievances, and Masonic codes can be extremely arcane. 

Hammond's long suspension seems unduly harsh, especially in light of what the original offense was in the first place. (His lodge was forbidden to allow him to even come to family and guest night events, under threat of charges.) It seems a terrible injustice to cast out a 50+ year member, a 33°, and a man who served so many Masonic bodies, starting as a DeMolay in his teenaged years, so I wish him well in his endeavor.  But this headline-grabbing attempt to enlarge the lawsuit beyond simply seeking reinstatement will do no one any good, and only bring more bad press in a year that hasn't been going well for Masonry already.

(The Article of Incorporation of the MW Grand Lodge of Florida referred to in the above NBC story can be seen quoted online in the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire for 1894 HERE:)

Spanish Masons Under Dictator Francisco Franco

While persecution of Freemasons by Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini's respective  fascist regimes in the 1930s and 40s have been well documented, the story of Spanish Masons under their own dictator, General Francisco Franco, has been largely overlooked by historians. 

From the Spanish El Pais website article "Why did  General Franco hate the Freemasons so much?":

It’s never too late. That was the spirit in which Spain’s freemasons held their recent annual assembly in Madrid, welcoming representatives of lodges from all over the world. The meeting came after a number of other major events organized by Spain’s Grand Lodge in recent months, all part of a bid by an organization that was once ferociously persecuted by General Francisco Franco to rebuild its reputation and establish that it isn’t, and never has been, a danger to the country.

During his 40-year dictatorship, Franco was fond of referring to the “Jewish-Masonic conspiracy,” even doing so in his final speech, given from the balcony of the Royal Palace in September 1975, less than two months before his death. With the dictator out of the way, Spain began its slow transition toward democracy, as political parties, labor unions, and religious movements were all legalized and civil rights restored. All except for the freemasons, that is, who had to wait until 1979 to be legalized, and only then after the High Court had overruled the Interior Ministry’s initial refusal to allow them to be registered.

Franco, a devout Catholic, was not alone in his mistrust of the freemasons: in 2005, Pope Benedict described masonry as a sin; and interestingly enough, his successor, Pope Francis shares this view, despite his liberal tendencies. “On this earth toward the end of the 19th century, the conditions for the growth of young people were dreadful. This region was filled with masons, priest-haters, anti-clericalists, and Satanists,” declared the Argentinean pontiff at a meeting of young Catholics in Turin last September.

A few weeks later, a Spanish bishop suspended a priest for being a mason, while the Catholic Church’s Infovaticana magazine accused the organization of a range of crimes, including murder. Spain’s Grand Lodge brushed off the incidents in a humorous article in its publication, El Oriente, pointing out that the founders of three of the world’s biggest car manufacturers – the Chrysler brothers, Henry Ford and André Gustave Citröen – were all masons: “Criticism of the conspiracy is correct,” ran the article. “Do you want a real argument to feed anti-masonic feeling? Without Ford, the Chrysler brothers and Citröen, there would be no traffic jams.”

Nevertheless, some of Spain’s institutions are doing their bit to help restore the reputations of masons who suffered under Franco. In January, Madrid’s College of Lawyers rehabilitated the memory of 61 members who were expelled in 1939. In the wake of Franco’s victory in the civil war that year, dozens of freemasons, some of them well-known figures, were either exiled, imprisoned or, in some cases, shot.

Which partly explains why Spain’s Senate this year invited members of the country’s Grand Lodge to take part in official acts as part of the United Nations’ International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, although it did so at the insistence of Isaac Querub, the president of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain, who had previously called on the upper house to invite Grand Master Óscar de Alfonso Ortega and the head of the Spanish masons’ Grand Council, Jesús Gutiérrez Morlote.

In fact, even some senior members of the Catholic Church are taking a more forgiving position. Italian cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Papal College for Culture, recently published an article in L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican’s daily newspaper, entitled “Dear Brothers in the Masons,” calling for dialogue between the Catholic Church and the freemasons.

It has to be said, though, that in the four decades since Spain has returned to democracy, the freemasons’ efforts to be accepted have met with mixed fortunes. At the most recent World Conference of Regular Masonic Grand Lodges, held in San Francisco in November 2015, Óscar de Alfonso Ortega told delegates: “Our country occupies a particular place in the history of persecution we have suffered, but that isn’t where the enigma lies. The masons who visit us, who take their status as such in their own country for granted, realize that democratic Spain has made no effort to restore the honor of this institution.” The theme of Spain’s Grand Lodge for 2016 is “Let your actions, not your words, speak for you.”

De Alfonso Ortega attended the San Francisco conference bearing an unusual responsibility: aside from representing Spanish masons, since last summer he has presided the Ibero-American Masonic Confederation, one of the most important regional masonic organizations in the world, with around 10,400 lodges in 25 countries and a combined membership of 350,000. “For Spanish masons, who number just 3,000, aside from being an honor [this responsibility] will help strengthen our Order here and internationally,” he says.

Fall 1958, the Pardo Palace in the outskirts of Madrid: Franco’s official residence. Two US senators, along with a high-ranking military man, are received by Generalissimo Francisco Franco. Their mission is to sound out the dictator about a possible visit by the then president of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower. What kind of reception would he get? Franco is delighted at the prospect, and begins expanding on the need to eradicate once and for all the Communist threat, and is willing to help the United States in its fight against the Soviet Union, hoping to win the support of the West in the process – after all, it had only been admitted to the United Nations in December 1955.

 Carried away in his euphoria, Franco also declares that freemasonry must also be done away with. At which point, one of the senators politely interrupts: “Sir, President Eisenhower is a protestant, I’m a mason, and my colleague here in the Senate is Jewish. We would all be in jail if we lived in Spain.” The military man, Eugene Vidal, an old-school Yankee blueblood and head of aeronautics at West Point military academy, drove home the point with a certain degree of sarcasm: “No, no my dear sir, I’m also a mason and I too would be shot here.” The story of the meeting was told many years later by US writer Gore Vidal, the son of Eugene Vidal and the grandson of another US senator, Thomas P. Gore.

Franco was reportedly livid, but the prospect of parading through the streets of the Spanish capital alongside the leader of the free world was too much to resist, and he kept his views on the freemasons to himself after that. Eisenhower finally visited Spain in December 1959.

Of course it was not just the masons who Franco felt threatened his vision of Spain: he had only just allowed the first protestant churches to reopen, despite the vociferous opposition of the Catholic Church. By the late 1950s a few Jewish families had also cautiously returned.

What the United States perhaps was unaware of, and that has largely been overlooked in Franco’s long list of crimes, is that the dictator had already virtually eradicated masonry from Spain. Some historians have wondered why Franco loathed the movement so much: some have speculated it might have been because his brother and father, both of whom he is said to have hated, were masons, and that he had been rejected by a lodge. The masons have always been associated with anti-clericalism and liberalism, both anathemas to Franco. What is beyond dispute is that in 1936, when he launched his uprising that led to the civil war, he made the 6,000 or so masons in Spain one of his prime targets. Once in power, legislation was soon passed outlawing freemasonry, and some 18,000 trials were held that led to firing squads, long prison sentences, and exile, along with the seizure of all property belonging to anybody convicted of belonging to the freemasons.

After Franco died, there was arguably greater resistance from Spain’s institutions to legalizing the freemasons than there was to allowing the Communist Party to operate.

There was a time when the masons were both numerous and powerful in Spain. There were 151 masons among the 470 parliamentarians who made up the first legislature of the Second Republic in 1931. Little wonder that Franco described the Republic as a masonic operation. Six of the Second Republic’s prime ministers were masons, among them Manuel Azaña, along with 20 ministers and 14 undersecretaries. A further 21 masons served as generals in the army.

Freemasons had played a key role in the French Revolution and the Enlightenment in the years running up to it. Napoleon belonged to the order, as did George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt. In Latin America, Venezuela’s Simón Bolívar, Mexican president Benito Juárez and Cuban independence leader José Martí were also freemasons.

(Yes, I know that Napoleon and Lincoln weren't Freemasons. The author was misinformed. - CH)

Civility, Masons, and the Press

A curious article appeared today on the Bold.global website, entitled: "It’s Been A Depressing Political Season, But Masonic Leaders Remind Us Peace is Possible" by Hayden Williams III.  It contains an interview with the Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of California,  MWBro. Russ Charvonia. 

On the one hand, I'm all for a call to civility in the U.S., and the world, for that matter. There's too little of it these days, and the anonymity  of the web has made things even worse, allowing total strangers to erupt in ways they would never do face to face. Increasingly, we all seem to be shouting at each other, and branding argumentative opponents as the enemy. The bizarre construct of "hate speech" laws in some countries to brand uncomfortable rhetoric as a crime is an outgrowth of this. Even universities, which were once bastions of open dialogue and opposing opinions, are now turning into philosophical gulags where some students feel they must be protected from speech itself, and speech codes and trigger warnings now govern what a professor may say or teach.

So, civility was the theme of MWBro. Russ' during his time in office - he has written about it (as DGM in 2014), and even issued a month-long "civility challenge" to California Masons in May 2015.

Now, on the other hand, there's this article today on Bold.global. GM Russ has done a dangerous thing as a Mason - talked to the media. In this case, the interviewer wasn't anti-Masonic, which is refreshing these days. But he did have a very clear and distinct agenda. 

Here's the article:

As the June 7  presidential primary approaches for the Golden State, members of America’s oldest fraternity, Freemasons, are speaking out against the tone of the presidential elections. A society woven into the fabric of American history, Freemasonry seeks to develop leaders through its central tenets: brotherly love, relief, and truth. Bold interviewed the most recent Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of California, Russ Charvonia, about the state of the nation from a Freemasonry perspective.

Anger and discord at a Donald Trump rally

 This presidential election has been dominated by narcissistic personalities blatantly using American democracy as a personal showcase. Donald Trump has degraded women, minorities, and the profession of public service all in one bow. The truly alarming aspect of this is that millions of Americans are supporting this kind of showmanship, signaling a great sickness being reborn from America’s past ghosts. When asked about his opinion on the pulse of the nation, Charvonia said that the country needs civic society groups including Freemasonry like never before.

Charvonia said the world’s most powerful office needs a statesman. It needs a leader who can speak directly to the heart of a raging planet, and an egocentric politician will only throw gasoline on a raging inferno. Freemasonry is built upon a system of brotherly networks, all working towards a common goal. In a time where emotions are high and the stakes of national security are even higher, the ability to influence others to work together as a unit may be the most important qualification of the next POTUS. Charvonia knows this all to well. While heading an organization with more than 4,000 positions of leadership, his success came from having dialogue–not arguments–when making decisions for the future of this vast organization.

 Recent national events show the country’s negative racial undertones are as high as ever, and Trump’s basis of power resides within this matrix. Charvonia believes that Freemasonry tenets may have to return and bring civility to this morally wounded nation. We must engage in dialogue, and not debate. Debates require a winner, in which the pendulum of revenge and envy swings continuously.

Dialogue brings opposing views together, while allowing compromise to manifest itself for the benefit of harmony. The Republican presidential race has resembled a playground shouting match using “yo mama so fat” punch lines. As a result, the American people imitate such behavior, destroying what little values people still possess. California Freemasons have seen a resurgence of young men ages 18-30 joining their ranks. They are openly rejecting today’s loud, bitter status quo for a brotherhood steeped in mystery and knowledge. While media has done much to tarnish its image, the tenets that the institution stands by has produced some of America’s greatest leaders in various arenas.

 It is this reason why Charvonia said he feels Freemasonry must lead the charge restoring America’s civility. Currently, Freemasons from California are leading a call for dialogue discussions in racially divided cities such as Ferguson, Mo. They are becoming more publicly accessible to attract those who are fed up with seeing America’s spirit digressing into chaos. When primary day arrives in the Golden State, California Freemasons will vote for the candidate who shares the same values they believe in, rooted in truth. Unequivocally, that candidate will not be Donald Trump.

"Unequivocally?" Really?

So, the question immediately arises: did RWBro. Charvonia actually just alienate between 15% and 30% (or more) of his own membership by seeming to attack a candidate of a major political party who they might just be voting for? Or was he simply the victim of a lousy reporter stuffing words in his mouth? (Note that there is not one, single, solitary quote from the GM's actual lips in the article.) 

I've been edited up against wingnuts like Alex Jones enough in TV shows about Masonry to know how your words can be twisted around by even a moderately skilled editor (heck, I did it myself for 25 years). So, I'm not so sure that the GM actually staked out a position on Donald Trump in his remarks to this reporter. But it sure sounded like it from the way it was written. (NOTE: See the UPDATE below.)

Now, I don't disagree that Trump specifically has brought a major clot of coarseness to the presidential race. And I pray that if he actually becomes president that some level-headed advisor or Secret Service agent wrests his cell phone and Twitter account away from him before he Tweets some 140 character zinger off to Xi Jinping that gets one of our aircraft carriers slammed with a cruise missile over it. 

I think MWBro. Russ' goal of striving for more civility in the public arena is a noble one that should be pursued. As Masons, we strive to be tolerant and civil to each other and the world around us. But this story seems to be claiming that he is saying who Masons in California should not vote for, because of "civility." That's the kind of position that groups like the Grand Orient of France take, and staking out public position papers on political topics is one of the several reasons they are not widely recognized around the world. When a current or even past Grand Master walks into an interview with his apron and gold collar, he is speaking as a leader of all of his members. But if he wants to take a personal position on a public policy or societal matter, or just that he "feels the Bern," take all that stuff off and just be a concerned citizen who happens to be a Mason.

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UPDATE: 
The author of the article contacted me on Facebook, and admitted that the commentary specific to Trump were his own opinions, and NOT those of the Grand Master. After the discussion, he went back and revised the last lines of the piece to reflect that. 

And the Grand Master himself also sent a message saying the following,"To be clear, I did not mention Mr. Trump's name to the author of this article. That was Mr. Williams' conclusion, not mine." 

Scottish Rite Patent Frames

Scottish Rite Masons - looking for a frame to put your 32° or Knight Commander of the Court patent into? 

Eternity Creations is custom making frames for these documents. They are hand-crafted and largely black, with a Chain of Union matte reproducing the symbols of the 32 degrees. 

(I am supposing that these are for the AASR-Southern Jurisdiction. Please check with the company to see if your Northern Masonic Jurisdiction certificate will fit into this frame!)

The price is $139.95, plus $19.95 shipping in the U.S.

For more details (and larger photos) visit their website HERE.